[5] Castilla was inspired by his marine biology professor, Patricio Sanchez, during his undergraduate years.

He and several other students in the class were invited to join Sanchez in studying marine fauna at Chile's seashores.

[3] This research helped grow Castilla's interest in marine biology which he pursued a Ph.D in at the University College of North Wales.

[6] Using the results from this study, Castilla wanted to apply his findings to a real life scenario.

[3] This led Castilla and other researchers to lobby the Chilean government into enforcing comanagement on a broader scale.